Free Your Mind
by OrangeGirlExplosion
Summary: " You want me to teach you how to fight huh? And why should I, the Prince of Saiy-jins teach a human how to fight? You couldn't handle it! If I didn't kill you the training would! Well, you're gonna get your wish!"
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but my girl. Nothing else.  
  
Warning: Racism, bigotry, nothing too serious though.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It was her first day.  
  
Her first day in a new school.  
  
Her first day in a new school in another country.  
  
Her first day in a new school in Japan.  
  
Noelle Pierce walked down the hallway of her new school with her head down. She felt so out of place here. It was her first time out of the country in her life. She'd never even been out of the state she was born in.  
  
She was black in a predominantly Asian school. There were some Asian Americans scattered about, but she seemed to be the only black girl in the country. No one had talked to her, and those who had didn't speak in English. The only words she could remember were:  
  
Kuroi  
  
Yaro  
  
And baka.  
  
She did not know what those words meant. Her anime vocabulary didn't go that far. She only knew simply thing like greetings and departures. And she was hearing more complicated stuff all the time.  
  
She suddenly wished she hadn't joined that exchange program. She didn't know they were going to segregate her and leave her out. They could at least say hello or something.  
  
As she passed some girls, she could hear them giggling and saying things in a language that she didn't understand. She blushed and hurried on to class.  
  
*****************  
  
It was bad enough they wouldn't talk to her and talked about her, but now this was just rude.  
  
They were supposed to be doing a class project for their arts class. She didn't know what to do and when she asked the teacher, he treated her like she was such a burden. He explained everything like she was an idiot. And once she understood everything, she was left alone to do it. Everyone else paired off and no one wanted to help her at all.  
  
She got it halfway done and turned it in, and when she did, her teacher complained that she wasted too much time and gave her a D-. She took the grade silently and moved on.  
  
It wasn't fair, but there was nothing she could do.  
  
******************  
  
By the time she got out, Noelle was certain of one thing:  
  
The whole town of Cherry hated her.  
  
She walked towards her exchange home. It was only a little ways from there. She hoped. Her exchange brothers and sisters had neglected to pick her up as they went to the arcade. She loved video games and was quite good at video game logic.  
  
But she was not invited. Thus she was to wander her own way home.  
  
As she tried to remember exactly which way she came to school, Noelle stopped in an alley. She had been walking for about an hour and she was so tired. The building she was leaning on had to be a restaurant from the smell of grease in the air.  
  
" Give money American."  
  
" Uh?"  
  
Noelle turned at the voice. Someone was speaking in broken English. It was a few guys. All of them had either black or brown hair and they were dressed in blue and green uniforms. They looked like they could break her in half.  
  
" Give money American."  
  
" 'Give money American'?" She repeated," Hey!! You're trying to rob me- mmph!!"  
  
She was grabbed and pulled into the alley. This really scared her. Noelle began to thrash and buck; trying to get away. But the 2 out of 5 boys that grabbed her were too strong and were holding her in a painful position. The big one, assumed to be the leader, he was going through her purse.  
  
Noelle got angry at the fact they thought she was an easy target and started swinging. She hit one in the face and hit the other in the crotch. They both let go and stumbled back painfully. Now that she was free, she went to get her purse, but the other 2 guys grabbed her before she could reach the leader. And once the initial shock of pain was over, the previous 2 males joined in.  
  
" Let go of me!! Get off me!! Somebody help!!!"  
  
The leader laughed and approached with a handful of money; albeit from her purse. He waved it tauntingly in her face; just out of her reach.  
  
" My property American. Not yours." He yanked the money away and put it in his pocket.  
  
Before Noelle could launch into another fit of screaming and thrashing, a black flash darted all around the alley. Grunts of pain and cries of agony accompanied the sounds of hits from all over. Noelle couldn't figure out for the life of her what was going on.  
  
Then just as quickly as the blur appeared, it disappeared. In its place was a man. A man taller than her. His hair was short cut but still stood up on its own in a flame manner. He wore a black pair of leather pants, black leather gloves, a red muscle shirt, black leather sleeveless jacket, and gold-colored metal tipped boots.  
  
He had a smirk on his face and was dusting his hands off arrogantly. Noelle realized that all the males were unconscious on the ground. Some were bleeding and others were bruised. She became conscious of the fact that she was free and on the ground.  
  
" Wow. That guy must'of beaten all them up. But how? How is possible to move that fast?" She thought aloud. She couldn't even fully see the man move and he had beaten all the guys up without even breaking a sweat or breathing hard at all.  
  
She reached for her purse and put it on her shoulder cautiously. She wanted to leave, but she had to thank him too. Standing up carefully, she walked over and tapped the man on the shoulder.  
  
He whirled around and started to punch her.  
  
" Ah!!" Noelle fell flat on her butt and crawled backwards away from him.  
  
He froze his fist in the air and realized she was not an enemy. He put his fist down and dusted himself off. Then he leaned over and took the money that had been left unattended due to the rumbled that just took place.  
  
When he started to give it to Noelle, she put her hands up for a blow that never came. He rolled his eyes and tossed the money at her. Then he went for his bag that was dropped in the midst of the scrap.  
  
" Daijobu ka?" He didn't even look at her when he said that.  
  
Noelle didn't know what he said to her. She didn't understand it at all; so she just looked at him confused.  
  
This seemed to aggravate him and he growled. She could see he was angry and backed away from him.  
  
" Daijobu ka?!" He asked again.  
  
" I'm sorry sir! I don't understand." She hoped he could understand that and he wouldn't beat her to a pulp too.  
  
He sighed and looked to the ground. Then he looked up at her.  
  
" You, American?" He pointed to her.  
  
" Uh, yeah. I'm an American." She started to stand up now; feeling that he wouldn't hurt her now.  
  
" No Japanese?" He asked again.  
  
" Uh uh. Only English. Um, thanks for saving me!" She said quickly.  
  
He grunted and started to walk away. Noelle started to go her own way too, but she looked down at the fallen males while gathering her things that fell. They were really beaten within an inch of their lives. She quickly got her things and ran after the highly muscular man.  
  
" Hey! Hey sir!" She ran after him waving her hands.  
  
No body else knew what she was saying, so he was the only one that turned around. She finally caught up to him one block later. He turned and saw her coming. She stopped in front of him and leaned over to catch her breath.  
  
"I don't mean to be a pest, but how did you do that?" She finally could form coherent sentences.  
  
" Training." He shrugged and walked on.  
  
" Wait!!" Noelle's hand shot out and grabbed his arm. He turned around and gave a cold glare that made her snatch her hand away and back away a little.  
  
" What is it American?!!" He was mad now. She hoped he wouldn't kill her. He looked like he'd beaten more than a few people he considered pests before.  
  
" Uh, can you teach me to fight like that?" She suddenly found the ground to be so interesting.  
  
At this the unknown man began to laugh uncontrollably and almost fell over. Noelle didn't know what was so funny. She just asked if he could teach her to fight. If he couldn't he could just say so instead of laughing.  
  
She waited until he stopped laughing and wiped the tears from his eyes.  
  
" Go away American girl. You would not last in my training." He started to walk away again.  
  
Noelle boiled. He was another one of those males that thought she was a stupid little American girl with no class or ability to do anything. She scowled at his retreating back and walk after him.  
  
She knew she needed to be able to defend herself. That last little episode in the alley was proof that she needed to be able to fend for herself. And if she could fight like that guy, she'd just show everyone that she wasn't just a stupid American girl.  
  
" Wait a minute!!" She chased after him again. This time when she grabbed his arm, she didn't back down from his glare, she hung onto his arm with determination in her eyes.  
  
" I want to learn to fight like you. I know you can teach me."  
  
" You know nothing American. Now let go of my arm or I will break it off." He glared harder at her.  
  
" No. Not until you teach me to fight! I'll pay you, I'll cook and clean, whatever!" She was desperate.  
  
" I said no." He yanked his arm away; causing Noelle to fall down on the ground. When she looked up to try again, he was flying away. Noelle watched with wide eyes. He was actually flying. Oh, she had to caught up to him and get him to train her.  
  
********************  
  
Vegeta flew away from Cherry City and towards West City. That American wanted him to teach her how to fight?! Hah! She wouldn't make it one day! He'd run her ragged and she wouldn't want to be around him. Besides, he didn't have time to train someone when he was training himself.  
  
He looked down to see how far away he was from West City and saw something that almost made him lose his concentration on flying and almost fall.  
  
The American girl was following him home.  
  
**********************  
  
Noelle ran down the dirt road towards West City. She wasn't going to let that man get away. He could teach her how to fly and fight like that and she wanted to learn. If he didn't think she could handle it, she'd have to change his mind.  
  
" I'm not going to let you get away that easily. You're going to teach me to fight or I'll die trying!"  
  
" Go home American!!"  
  
Noelle looked up at the voice and saw that the man was talking to her. She scowled at him and continued to run after him.  
  
" I will not!! Not until you agree to teach me how to fight!"  
  
*********************  
  
Noelle had been running after this man for 3 hours. He tried to lose her in the forest. He tried to lose her near a waterfall, but Noelle climbed down it. He tried to lose her near the river, but she remained on his tail.  
  
She was getting quite tired, but refused to give up. Noelle made herself promise not to let him get away, and she meant it.  
  
**********************  
  
" Go home American!!"  
  
Vegeta couldn't believe the American had followed him for 3 hours straight. He had to admit, she had guts. She had real guts to follow him for so long without resting. Someone else would have given up and gone home already. Maybe there wouldn't such a waste to this girl.  
  
He hovered in the air and as he tried one more time. Noelle had to yet to answer because she was on the ground on her hands and knees panting and sweating heavily.  
  
" Not....On...Your....Life."  
  
Vegeta rolled his eyes and landed in front of her. She tried to stand, but she was entirely too exhausted.  
  
" What is your name American?" He asked.  
  
" No...Noelle. Who are you?" She panted.  
  
" You can call me Vegeta-sama. It seems you really are serious about me training you. Fine. But if you get in my way I won't hesitate to beat you into oblivion!"  
  
" I understand." She panted.  
  
Vegeta looked at her; sizing her up. She would take some time to train. But he knew he could do it. He grunted and turned to walk away.  
  
" Come one gaijin!! You've got a lot of work ahead of you!!" 


	2. Communication Barrier

" ....." English  
  
.... Japanese.  
  
  
  
  
  
" Come on gaijin!! You've got a lot of work ahead of you!!"  
  
Noelle panted a little more, then forced herself to stand up and trudge after Vegeta. She was so tired, but she didn't dare tell him that. She just got him to accept her to train. The last thing she wanted to do was give the impression that she was lazy.  
  
" Coming Vegeta-sama." She ran a little to keep up with him.  
  
****************  
  
Vegeta had no idea why he had decided to waste his time with the American girl. She wasn't exactly the 'training' type. Her hips were bigger than his, she wasn't exactly chubby, but she wasn't skinny either, not to mention the fact she didn't even speak his language.  
  
He glanced back at her. She was faltering along behind him. It was obvious that she was tired and her feet hurt by the way she stumbled like a drunken animal. If he was Gokou, he'd offer to fly her back to Capsule Corp., maybe even carry her.  
  
But he wasn't Gokou.  
  
" Move gaijin!! I won't wait!!" He started to move faster.  
  
" Yes sir!!" She straightened up and ran after him.  
  
*******************  
  
Noelle was glad when they finally reached wherever Vegeta was taking her. It was a big, yellow, turtle-like building. On the side were blue Japanese characters that she didn't understand.  
  
On the side of the building was this big, black and white sphere. It also had Japanese characters on the side of it. Noelle was starting to feel even more out of place.  
  
" Gaijin!! Move!!"  
  
Noelle was ripped from her trance by Vegeta's order. He was standing in the doorway of the house with a scowl on his face. He looked like he was aggravated with her. She hurried on to catch up with him.  
  
Once inside, she was surprised again by the sheer size of the place. It was so big and clean. She wished she could stay there instead of sharing the small room with her surrogate big sister: Aina.  
  
" Wow. This place is so big." She turned in a small circle to look at it all.  
  
" I said move!!" Vegeta grabbed her by her arm and yanked her downstairs." Ay!! Hey! I'm not Raggedy Anne!!"  
  
******************  
  
Downstairs was a large lab. Noelle had never seen such a place. There were beakers and test tubes and Bunsen burners. Chemicals of so many colors. She was in awe at all of it.  
  
" Alright, that's enough staring!" Vegeta yanked her on.  
  
Noelle allowed herself to be pulled through the lab. He pulled her until they came to a desk with a woman with blue hair behind it. She looked up at them and glared. Noelle wondered if there was something wrong.  
  
Well, well Vegeta, isn't she a little young to be under your sheets? She said.  
  
Noelle didn't know what in the world she said, but she sounded either angry or mocking. She even glared at her some more. She wondered now if she was the butt of some joke or trick.  
  
She cast a glance to Vegeta, who was still gripping her by the wrist. He was standing with his other hand on his non-existing hips and his eyes were closed with an arrogant smirk on his face.  
  
You shouldn't be so bitter woman. Just because your child support case was thrown out, I don't have to pay you anything and I got you pregnant with two kids, doesn't mean we can't be friends. He managed to say all this with a sickeningly smug smile.  
  
The blue haired woman growled and cast a glance over to Noelle. She bit back a gasp as all the attention was placed upon her. She blushed and looked down at the ground. She hated it when people focus all on her.  
  
Who are you anyway? The woman said.  
  
Noelle didn't know what she said, or what to say in return. She just stared back at the woman with an increasing blush on her face. She glared at her harder and stood up; slamming her hands on her desk.  
  
Hey!! Are you stupid or something?!! Don't you understand typical Japanese?!! Answer me!! She yelled.  
  
As a matter of fact. She can't. That is why she is here. This girl is going to be spending a lot of time here. And seeing how she is one of those Americans, she'll need to understand what we're saying. Vegeta was now holding her up by her wrist; her feet dangling in the air.  
  
Noelle watched the woman's face change from anger to shock. After that she tuned out the conversation. They weren't speaking English and Vegeta hadn't lifted her up anymore so she figured they weren't talking to her.  
  
She looked around at all the things around the lab again. Then she found a pair of robots in the corner. They were obviously malfunctioning because they were running into each other repeatedly. She laughed at them a little until the woman handed her something.  
  
A metallic device was placed in her hands. It looked like a small silver ring. She didn't know what to do with it. Then she noticed that they also had them on their ear. She was about to ask what to do with them when the blue-haired woman placed it on her ear for her. She tinkered back there a little bit, and after that she stood in front of Noelle.  
  
" Can you understand me now?" She asked.  
  
" Um, yeah. I hear you just fine." Noelle answered.  
  
" This thing on your ear is a translator. When we speak Japanese, it will sound like English to you. When you speak English, it will sound like Japanese to us. This way we all understand each other. By the way, I'm Bulma."  
  
" Uh, I'm Noelle Pierce. Nice to meet you Bulma. Did I do something wrong? You were yelling at me. Am I not supposed to be here? Is there something I didn't do?" She asked.  
  
" No. Just a misunderstanding. Now you be careful with this guy. He'll leave you barefoot and pregnant with nothing at all!!" Bulma pointed this at Vegeta who simply sneered.  
  
" I will. Thank you." She said.  
  
" Yeah, yeah, yeah, enough with the formalities! Let's get this show on the road! C'mon gaijin!!" Vegeta yanked her towards the door once again. " Ay!! Again with the yanking!!" 


	3. Ki?

Now that she was able to understand everyone, Noelle followed Vegeta through the house, to the back yard. She made sure to stay close and not get lost in the large domicile, but it wasn't easy. 

Once they were outside again, they stopped in front of a large spherical object. It was black and white with more Japanese symbols on the sides of it. She could only recognize the number on the side.

" Come on." Vegeta walked inside.

Noelle wasted no time hurrying after him. As soon as she set foot in the large sphere, she was crushed to the ground. She couldn't stand up at all. It felt like the weight of the world was really on her shoulders. 

She tried to push herself up, but the force only seemed to increase. Hearing chuckling, she tried to twist her head in the direction it was coming from.

" Did you fall gaijin? Don't tell me you can't handle a measly 5x earth's gravity." He was leaning on the console in the middle of the room with one hand. 

" Don't know…what…happened…." Noelle wheezed.". ……Can't breathe…." 

Noelle felt fear prick inside her. She couldn't breathe and everything was becoming quite fuzzy and dark. Was she dying? She didn't know. She couldn't move and she couldn't speak anymore. Her last image was of Vegeta pressing a button on the machine, and walking over to her. Then she was out like a short circuit.

********************

Vegeta waited until Noelle was about to pass out before he decreased the level of gravity. When she finally did, he went over to her body and made sure she was still alive. After making sure of that, he threw her over his shoulder and jumped to the lower level. 

It might have been cruel; to let her walk into the heavy gravity like that, but it had to be done. She needed to know that what she was asking of him was dangerous. She could be killed at anytime. That's assuming she takes the risks and goes through with it. This training would be the hardest thing she'd ever do; seeing as she was neither Saiy-jin nor half-breed. Not to mention she had no prior martial arts training.

He put her down on his bed on the lower level. She would be safe from the gravity there while he went to train. If she actually did decide she wanted to learn to fight, she would certainly be in for a torturous experience. Nothing is ever free. 

As he walked back towards the entrance to the upper level, Vegeta glanced back at the American girl, who was sleeping off the gravity's effects.  Most of him wanted her to realize the danger of what she was wanted and go away; leaving him to train like he always did. 

But, there was a small part of him that wanted her to accept all the danger and still ask him to train her. It was sort of flattering. She saw him fight, well, sort of, and asked if he could teach her to do the same thing. 

" It's too bad you weren't born a Saiy-jin, you would have been interesting to fight against." 

********************

When Noelle woke up, the first thing she became aware of was the loud noises above her. The second was a headache from the lack of oxygen that had caused her to pass out in the first place. 

The third was that she was in another part of the large sphere. She seemed to be in a bed. And it stunk like one of her surrogate brothers. 

CRASH!!! 

The fourth and fifth things Noelle noticed were she was on the floor and someone was testing bombs above her. 

She slowly got up off the bed and went to the ladder off to the side of the room. The noises were coming from the upper level. They sounded like grunts of pain and dynamite blasting.  

Once she stabilized herself on the ladder to the point where she wouldn't fall, Noelle looked up to see what was going on. 

She saw Vegeta and some other guy in orange with blond hair beating the crap out of each other. That was only when they were standing still. They started to move again and she couldn't see them anymore. There were just these thunderous booms every few seconds. Then there was just nothing. 

Curious, Noelle stepped up from the ladder and walked around the room. It reeked of sweat and, what was that, blood? Some of the tiles were damaged and the room was burnt in some places.

SWISH 

" N-Nani?" She heard something fly by her like the wind. The force of it was so great. She didn't know where it came from though. There were no open doors or windows, nor was there a fan near by. 

WHOOSH 

A big ball of light came flying towards her head at amazing speeds. Noelle looked like a deer in headlights. She couldn't scream, she couldn't think, she couldn't move. She didn't know what the ball of light was, but her senses were screaming 'danger'.

" Down!" 

Something shoved her down roughly and slammed her into the floor. Another sweaty body was on top of hers while the ball of light whizzed by. It smacked into the wall on the other side of the room and exploded. The blast was brighter than the ball had been. Noelle shut her eyes, but the light was so bright that it still stung. 

When the dust settled, Noelle risked looking up to see what happened. There was little damage to the room, but she had a few burns on her arms and her legs. The larger body on top of her removed itself and allowed her to stand.

" Hey Vegeta! What'd ya stop for?! We were just getting started!" 

Noelle looked up at the voice. There was a man dressed in orange floating above her and whom she guessed was Vegeta behind her. She did a double take at the man hovering above her. There were more people like Vegeta? 

" You idiot!!" 

" Whaat?!! I didn't do anything Vegeta!" 

" Not you idiot! This idiot!" 

Noelle grimaced at his tone and wondered if it were in her best interest to turn around and face Vegeta. But he made the decision for her when he roughly grabbed her by her shirt collar and turned her around.

" What the hell is wrong with you?!! Don't you know how to duck when ki comes your way?!! You could have had your head blown clean off your shoulders and blood would be all over my nice, clean training room!!"

Noelle cringed every time he yelled at her. She hated it when he yelled at her, but she wasn't about to let him know that. She took all of his ranting and said nothing in return unless he asked her something directly and it wasn't rhetorical. She noticed his hair was blond like the other guy's and his eyes were green.

_How strange…_She thought idly.

 " Ouch!" The only sound she did make was a squeak when he dropped her onto the hard floor.

" And don't let it happen again!!"

" Yes Vegeta-sama." 

The other man landed behind her and helped her stand up. " Don't be so hard on her Vegeta. She didn't know it was coming at her until it was too late. She couldn't have dodged it if she wanted to. I'm Gokou, by the way." 

She wasn't about to say anything until she say the silver translator device in his ear. Someone else she could talk to, thank Kami-sama! " I'm Noelle." 

" Although it was by almost fatal terms, it's nice to meet you. And you saved her life, Vegeta, so there's no harm done."

He grunted." It won't become a habit. She gets in the way again, she can just explode along with it!!"

Noelle shut her mouth and bit her tongue. She really wanted to say something to Vegeta then. How dare he be mad at her for something she didn't know to do!! She didn't know what the hell that 'ki' as he called it was flying at her like a comet! She didn't know they were doing, whatever they were doing up here! He had done something to make her pass out in the first place! She didn't ask to be put in here!

" What did you say?!!" 

Noelle snapped her hand over her mouth. She didn't say that out loud did she? She thought she just deliberated her tirade. She hoped she didn't say all that to him. 

" Uh, did I say that out loud?"

Gokou laughed and put his large hand on her shoulder." You sure did! Boy did you give him a piece of your mind!" 

" Oops. I'm sorry Vegeta-sama." She was sorry she said it out loud like that, but she wasn't sorry she said it.  

" You better be! Now get downstairs before you get killed!!!" 

Noelle jumped at his barking command and did as she was told. Boy, what a day. Yelled at from every side, laughed at, mugged, dragged this way and that, choked on extra gravity, nearly blown up by a ball of 'ki', and banished to the lower levels.

" I'm gettin' yelled at at home, screamed at at school, hollered at here, and for what? Learning to fight and fly which I'm not even sure this guy is gonna teach me as much as kill me! Oh, this better be way worth it or I'm gonna be severely pissed!!" 


End file.
